REMARKS BY PRESIDENT CLINTON
AND PRESIDENT CALDERA
AT SIGNING OF U.S.-VENEZUELA AGREEMENTS

Miraflores Palace
Caracas, Venezuela

10:00 A.M. (L)

PRESIDENT CALDERA: This simple ceremony, together with the
ceremony that was held yesterday in the Casa Maria in the Foreign
Office, mean the commitment of our two countries, Venezuela and
the United States, to the signature of important agreements.

We have wanted to benefit from the visit of President Clinton,
to be able to put the final words on the negotiations that had been
already underway and the documents that have been signed now, and
also to advance negotiations regarding other documents where there
are still different points of view in both countries. However,
all of these negotiations and documents ratify the advisability
and the need for our countries to enter into agreements of
this nature.

For us, it is a great honor to see the President of the
United States enter South America through the gateway of Caracas,
and in doing so, ratify his message of goodwill to the people of
this hemisphere and of the entire globe.

So we invite all of you present here to accompany us to the
National Pantheon, where President Clinton is going to give his
message to the hemisphere from the steps of the burial place of
the father of our homeland.

Thank you. (Applause.)

PRESIDENT CLINTON: President Caldera, Foreign Minister Rivas,
Energy Minister Arrieta, Dr. Tablante, Secretary Pena, Secretary
Albright, Special Envoy McLarty, to all the Venezuelan and American
officials here, ladies and gentlemen.

Mr. President, our hemisphere is coming together in a spirit
of mutual respect and equality rooted in democracy, which you have
championed for so long. And now we can become a stronghold for
security and prosperity, and an example to the world that market
democracies can deliver for all our people.

These agreements on energy and counternarcotics are practical
results of the partnership between the United States and Venezuela,
which is strong and growing stronger.

Last year Venezuela became the United States' number one
supplier of foreign oil. But for the last 80 years, Venezuela
has been a rock of stability, staying out of the oil embargo,
stepping in to boost production in moments of crisis from World
War II to the Gulf War. The investments we have made in each
other's energy sectors have created good jobs and spurred
innovation in both our countries. The people of the United
States are grateful for the benefits of our modern partnership.

Today's energy agreement will strengthen that partnership for
tomorrow, helping us to provide cleaner energy from more sources to
more people more efficiently.

Let me thank Secretary Pena and Minister Arrieta for their
hard work and their teamwork in getting this done, and for the
example of leadership they set for our entire hemisphere.

The Alliance Against Drugs we embrace today also enhances
our partnership and our future. For throughout the Americas,
drugs threaten the very fabric of civil society. They destroy
lives. They spread violence to our streets and playgrounds.
They corrupt and kill law enforcement officials. They create
instability that can sweep across borders. Drugs are not simply
a problem for the United States or for Venezuela; they are our
common problem, and we must fight back together.

In the United States we are working hard to reduce demand,
with the largest antidrug effort in our history. But we must also
be relentless in attacking supply. The Alliance Against Drugs is an
important step forward. New equipment and training for Venezuela's
drug fighters, including patrol boats and surveillance planes;
deeper cooperation between our law enforcement communities to speed
prosecutions and extraditions; a Joint Intelligence Coordination
center to share information and coordinate antidrug operations --
each of these initiatives will make us stronger in the fight against
drugs, and our children safer for the future.

Mr. President, Minister Rivas, Dr. Tablante, Secretary Albright,
General McCaffrey, thank you for making the United States-Venezuela
Alliance Against Drugs a reality. And let me thank all of you here
for taking the partnership between our two countries into the
21st century.